Life Choices
by HedwigBlack
Summary: Charlie has to decide between Quidditch and dragons. We all know what he ends up choosing. But how does his family react?Charlie/Bill siblingness.


For the Men's Tennis event in the Hogwarts Games

Also for the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp with the prompt: walk

And for the Favorite Character Boot Camp with the prompt: apple

* * *

"You're sure about this, then?" Bill asked from his place on the ground. He was lying in the grass with one arm beneath his head while he pointed his wand at the apple he was levitating. Above him, Charlie was circling the garden on his broom, waiting for the opportune moment. The Weasleys didn't have a Snitch to practice on and apples were the next best thing. Not that Charlie really needed practice; the English National Quidditch team had already made him a job offer. The problem was that it wasn't the only job offer he'd been given that week.

Charlie aimed his broom and zoomed in on the fruit which was zigzagging back and forth through the air. Just as his hand was about to reach for it, Bill let the apple drop and Charlie was forced to go into a dive to retrieve it. A foot from the ground he managed to grasp it before pulling up and coming to land beside his brother. He set his broom aside and plopped down on the ground and rested his arms on his knees.

"Yeah," he said, squinting in the afternoon sun. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Bill sat up and grinned. "You're my brother and I support you no matter what, but sometimes I just don't get you."

Charlie just shrugged. "What's there to get? It's not every day you get an offer to work with dragons for a living."

"It's not every day the English National team offers you the Seeker position either."

"Yeah, but I heard tell they have some Hebridean Blacks at the Romanian reserve. No way am I passing that up."

Bill chuckled and shook his head. "The English team rides Nimbus Two Thousands!"

"So?"

"So? _So?!_ I'd give anything just to touch one. And I don't even play Quidditch!"

Charlie grinned and absentmindedly started pulling blades of grass out of the ground. He knew his brother was probably right. Accepting the Quidditch team's offer was the most reasonable thing to do. But of the two of them, Bill was the bookish, reasonable one and it was simply against Charlie's nature to make any decision based on how logical it sounded. There were times when he wished he didn't always have to do everything the hard way. But this definitely was not one of them.

"Come on, Bill," he said. "You know me. I like Quidditch and it would be great for a while, but I'd get bored. I'm an adrenaline junkie. I can't keep doing the same thing over and over. And playing the game for a living would take all the fun out of it anyway."

Bill couldn't disagree with that and they sat in silence for a while, neither of them wanting to go inside just yet. It was a warm day, which was perfect for thinking and Charlie still had quite a bit on his mind. The most pressing matter was what he would say to the rest of his family when he went back to the Burrow.

"Bill?" he said, looking at him through the corner of his eye.

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell Mum for me?"

"Ha! No way! And you'd better tell me when you're going to break the news to her so I can be there to watch the show."

Charlie punched him in the arm. "Some brother you are."

"Hey, I said I'd be supportive. I didn't say, I'd do your job for you. Besides, what happened to being an adrenaline junkie? That should give you your fix for a month."

"You're not joking," Charlie said, finally getting up off the ground. He held out a hand to pull his brother up and then shouldered his broom before turning to face the Burrow. He sighed in resignation as he prepared to meet his fate. "Might as well get it over with now, eh?"

Bill reached out and ruffled Charlie's hair and they began to walk back to the house. "It'll be fine. They'll get used to the idea. It'll be no different than when I moved out. Once Mum realizes there will be one less mouth to feed, she'll come 'round."

Charlie nodded. "That's true."

Bill rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "In the meantime though, this should be quite entertaining."

Charlie punched him in the arm again, causing him to stumble. But when they finally made it to the kitchen door, Charlie paused before opening it. "Thanks," he said. "For… you know…"

Bill didn't bother waiting for him to finish his sentence. He clasped his shoulder encouragingly. "Yeah. I know."

Charlie quickly opened the door and went inside where he knew his mother was cooking at the stove. And he couldn't help but think that if he could face his mother in that moment, he could face any dragon that came his way. And with that somewhat comforting thought in mind, he broke the news.

"Hey, Mum! Guess what?"


End file.
